Metal
by TsukinoSora
Summary: Metal:It is the simplest of elements that influence them all. Hints of EdxWin & RoyxRiza in various chapters. [Dedicated to S J Smith].
1. AL: Edward: Of Corundum

_It is the simplest of elements that influence them all._

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**Metal: **Aluminum  
**Word Count: **2023  
**Genre: **Actually… none in particular. Angst I guess. BUT THERE IS EDxWIN AT THE END SO THAT MAKES IT OKAY, RIGHT!  
**Setting:** Anywhere! Anime or manga… the "You" is Ed.

**_DISCLAIMER: … Me no own FMA, or the book I mention in this. There. Good? I think so. _**

_**Dedication: **To S J Smith, who is an awesome writer and not only inspired me on the theme, but gave me permission to use it too. :) _

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE**: So… in case you're wondering, this is going to contain a lot of chapters that have nothing to do with one another, focusing on the theme of "metal." THIS WILL BE MOVED TO MY PEN NAME "TSUKINO SORA" in a few days… I would put it there now, but I just created that name and ffnet wants me to wait three days before I post anything there. (Man...) Also… some of these elements might be metalloids.., as in, they have some properties of metals but aren't actually metallic. Ah… I love FMA. And Chemistry. Yay!_

* * *

**Of Corundum  
**_Aluminum_

* * *

Thirteen. _That_ is the number of protons and electrons present in Aluminum. You want to laugh at the irony. Thirteen; the unlucky number. You had looked up the element for 'fun,' or rather, you had gotten sidetracked in your research and started to wonder again whether there was a way to make the philosopher's stone without the sacrifice of human lives. So you thought, how different would such a stone be from the one in legend? 

Would it be red? Would it still amplify alchemic power? Obviously, you would want it to. Such a thing that had those abilities would be the philosopher's stone. But how different could it get without human lives? How different could it be before it couldn't be called the philosopher's stone anymore? How great would it be if you found another way?

And how strange would it be, to have a philosopher's stone that wasn't red? None have ever existed. Then again, you've seen some pretty unbelievable things before that you would have never thought to exist. But that doesn't mean you know how to _make_ something as unbelievable as what you've seen.

It isn't fair! There are plenty of red stones that by look alone could be assumed to be the philosopher's stone. But they aren't what you need. You wish it were that easy though.

And that thought brought you around to the ruby, and eventually, Aluminum. There are plenty of red stones… but one in particular resembles the one you are searching for. A ruby. That crimson stone is all too familiar to you, even if only in thought. "Pigeon's blood," it is sometimes called, for it's deep red colour. Oftentimes the philosopher's stone was described as having the colour of a ruby… the colour of blood. It all makes sense when you compare the two.

And then, it makes even more sense when you look at their composition. Sure, they vary vastly in their making. The Philosopher's stone, along with other elements, is mainly composed from the sacrifice of human lives. The ruby is corundum; it is composed of two simple elements. Oxygen and… Aluminum.

Al2 O3. Aluminum Oxide. It's ironic that such a simple compound can produce a stone so similar to the one you are searching for. Why can't it just be the stone you want? The elements are so simple… the elements don't include people's _lives._

You don't want to take people's lives for your own selfish reasons… well, in a way, you don't think it is selfish. Your brother wants his body back, and he deserves it. You want yours back too… and although you would instantly give up your own for his, he wouldn't let you. You promised each other that you would get your bodies back _together_, and you will. And you don't want to die, obviously.

But you deserve to, don't you? For what you've done? For all the horrible sins you've committed? You've hurt people, (you've ripped their faith from them), you've killed people… you've made people cry. One in particular you seem to make cry all the time. And you hate it. That thought alone makes you want to believe that you should die right where you are; the ruby-coloured liquid flowing through your body ceasing to provide you with oxygen.

But then again, those same people you hurt, those same people who make you want to leave the world remind you that you must stay in it. At least long enough so that you wont see yourself hurting them anymore. You remember that time you went to the Island with your brother and you both contemplated death. When you asked him what would happen if you died right there on the Island, he had said that he didn't want to die. He said that the people who loved you both would be sad that you were gone from the world. And you, the cynic, had realised that your own death would _only_ affect those who knew you. You learned what "One is All, All is One" meant. And you had discovered that your lives were just a small part in the delicate balance of the world.

But they were a _part _of that balance, all the same.

It was like… a ruby.

Having thrown just another book about the philosopher's stone (that offered you no answers) across the room in frustration earlier, you got up to pull another book from the shelf. Another book about another red stone. It was dusty, which made sense, because why would people need to look at it that often? But you picked it up anyway. It was titled: Gemstones of the World: _Revised and Expanded Edition_. In it, you aimlessly looked through the pages for information on the ruby. It had said that while rubies were mainly composed of Aluminum and Oxygen, other elements were present in minute quantities. But no matter how miniscule the quantity of those 'minor' elements was, the simple presence of those elements made a difference. That was how rubies related to "One is all, all is one;" each individual life was like each element – not much on it's own, but something beautiful when all put together. And it could be 'one' little life, or 'one' little element, that affected the 'all' of the human race, or the 'all' of the ruby. Chromium, in tiny quantities, could give the ruby a brilliant lustre in a deep red hue; and one human, one simple life, could perhaps fix the wrongs he had committed and the many lives he believed himself to have ruined.

Then again, one simple human could _ruin_ the lives of many. Your thoughts drift to the corner of your mind that wonders if Lior survived after you exposed Cornello to the people. He had lied to everybody… but hadn't you, by exposing his lies, taken away their faith?

You don't want to think about that now, so you go back to your book. Yes, Aluminum and Oxygen. In a simple way, they could resemble the components of the philosopher's stone.

Oxygen was in every breath that one took, oxygen gave life to the people and to every living thing. (Well… besides plants). Oxygen could be life itself, and isn't that what the philosopher's stone was supposed to be? The elixir of life; the way to immortality?

But it was also death. The death of the many, many people used in its making. The philosopher's stone represented life and death at the same time. Aluminum could be the death part of the ruby:philosopher's stone analogy. It had 13 protons and electrons, the unluckiest number to have. By the time _you _were thirteen, you had already lost both your parents and ruined your brother's life.

No… thirteen was decidedly NOT a good number by your standards.

But these aren't things you want to think about now either. So, even though the book was what made you think of them in the first place, you flip through it some more. Going to the next page, you learn that rubies were not the only stones in the Corundum species.

Sapphires, the only other stones with the Aluminum Oxide composition, included stones of every colour other than red. You don't need to read that though, as it's right in the picture provided by the book. Right in the centre of the picture is a large, yellow-golden stone. Hah! Just like your eyes. So it would seem that Aluminum Oxide relates to you much more than you thought it would.

But your eyes aren't the only ones represented by the colours of the sapphire.

Something tugs at the back of your heart, looking at the deep cerulean hue of the sapphires in the picture. You inhale sharply as you remember just who's eyes have that ocean-blue tint in their iris. It's surprising to you when you realise just how much you miss seeing that colour… and how much you miss looking into that particular person's eyes.

Not… not that you looked in her eyes that much.

Not that you missed _her…_ just… it was a nice colour, that's all!

Okay… time to read the suddenly SUPER AWESOME and TOTALLY WAY MORE INTERESTING THAN WINRY book now… "Today corundums of gemstone quality of all colours except red are called sapphire." It reads. Hah! So… they weren't just special 'cause they were blue. They weren't even blue all the time! So… yeah. Now that you think about it, you don't like the colour blue that much anyway.

Nope.

Not at all.

…

"Redvarietiesarecalledrubies(page82)." You read so fast the words stick together in your head. But it's DEFINITELY NOT because your heart is beating as fast as you're eyes are scanning the page.

And… IF your heart WERE beating quickly, it definitely WOULDN'T be from anything other than the strenuous activity you're currently engaged in. Yes… the completely physically exhausting activity of sitting in the library reading. That made a lot of people have trouble breathing, right?

Of course.

Because you weren't having a hard time breathing just because a certain someone's name was on your mind. That wasn't it at all…

…

Well! Back to the book then, isn't it?

"The various colours of the sapphire are qualified by description, e.g., green sapphire or yellow sapphire. Colourless sapphire is called leuko-sapphire, pinkish orange sapphire Padparadscha ("Lotus Flower")."

Yup, this book was awesome. In fact, you have nothing better to do all day than read this book. And right now, you CERTAINLY don't want to be thinking about anyone- er, anyTHING other than this amazingly NOT boring book.

Well, next paragraph. "There is no definite demarcation between ruby and sapphire." You stop. The ruby, the stone that is so much the same as the one you're searching for, is _no_ different from the brilliant and beautiful blue sapphire exactly the same colour as your best friend's eyes.

You know… maybe you don't like this book so much after all. In closing it, you glance at the cover-slip on the inside. In it is a quiz: "If you think you know all there is to know about gems, test your knowledge with these questions:" Ooh, a test? You're good at tests. You ARE the Fullmetal Alchemist after all! You passed the National Alchemy exam at the age of twelve! You could do a simple test, even if it was from a book as strange as this one.

"1. What is the most desirable colour of a ruby?"

Okay… odd. Kind of creepy, actually. But it's just a coincidence that it's about the same thing you were just thinking about for half an hour. And anyway, you know the answer. Red, duh. Blood-coloured. The colour of the philosopher's stone.

Hmm… it says the answers are on the back flap. Oh what the hell, you can humour the book and pretend that you need to see the answer to its not-so-hard quiz. So you turn to the back, and check.

"Answers:

Pure red with a hint of blue."

Your eyes widen and you shut the book with a snap. _Pure red with a hint of blue._ Since when did it have anything to do with the colour of her eyes? Er- the, uh, colour blue? _'Stop thinking about it!'_ you yell inside your head. So… the red of the stone was only perfect if it had the blue of her eyes.

It needed both. That blood-red colour… and the colour of her eyes. It needed both to be perfect.

Did you need both too? To be happy, did you need both the red _and_ the blue? Was it worth it to have the red stone if at the same time there was no blue, no colour resembling the colour of her eyes?

Slowly, you put the book down. That's when you realise, that perhaps there is way more to the Corundum species than Aluminum Oxide.

And you realise that perhaps, even with all the good you plan to use it for, and all the things you want from it…

Perhaps you want more from life than just the philosopher's stone.

* * *

**_That book is real, by the way. It's by Walter Shumann. Reviews would be cool :D_**


	2. FE: Edward: Sensory Detail

_It is the simplest of elements that influence them all._

* * *

**Metal:** Iron  
**Word Count: **1660  
**Genre:** I don't know. I guess general?  
**Setting:** Gluttony's stomach, chapter 52 of the manga. (SO OBVIOUSLY, SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 52!)

**_Disclaimer: I have one at the beginning of the story and on my profile, so this will be the last time I write one for this story – I don't own anything. _**

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_**_ These aren't all going to be Ed-centric. They range from all characters, and I'll even have a few talking about the relationships between certain characters. Woot. Also, no, I don't think Ed would be stupid enough to subject himself to possible infection from testing the sword he makes in this chapter, but I had to have it. Hopefully my chapters will be longer than this one. Shmeh. _

* * *

**Sensory Detail  
**_Iron_

* * *

"This isn't pleasant at all." Ed said to Ling, it being possibly the greatest understatement of the year. They were inside Gluttony's stomach with virtually no way out; and now, they were up against a much larger version of Envy then the one they would have recognised him in earlier. His dark, obtrusive figure loomed before them as an anvil cloud does before a storm... But Edward and Ling would be the ones to strike first, before any metaphorical lightning of Envy's came upon them. 

"Can you make a weapon?" Ling asked.

"Leave it to me." the alchemist replied, his hands already clapping together by instinct. "This is a sea of blood… so there's no shortage of iron." Edward stated, drawing a sword from the crimson liquid with his right hand. It was curved and slightly bent near the base, like a bolt of lightning. He held it lengthwise in his hands while it cooled from the alchemic reaction, studying its features. It was hard metal, with a handle made of bone.

Was this what his 'handiwork' was now? Lethal weaponry?

He drew the sword from his own grasp with his right hand, prepared to test its sting. Not even a "Tssss!" emerged from him as he cut a tiny gash on his finger, drawing just enough blood for him to see that indeed, this sword could sear what it wished to.

It was ironic, that the metal which pierced his flesh was so similar in composition to the substance it drew out of his skin.

It was ironic, that the metal was meant to kill while being made from that liquid which was meant to give life.

It was ironic, that the very word to describe this metal contained the name of the metal itself.

_Iron._

Its odour was pungent among the stench of the fluid inside Gluttony's stomach. Ed couldn't remember exactly when he'd learned the smell of blood so instinctively before, but he had. Waking up in the suffocating smell of it was enough to make him inclined to not ponder the matter any longer. He was covered in that and whatever other waste seemed to lie in Gluttony, and as any sensible person would – he wished that he wasn't. He had his brother, and other people waiting for him that he had to get back to, as did Ling. And neither of them wanted to be anywhere in the same vicinity as Envy… so it was time to go.

Handing the sword to Ling, he asked, "Think we can do it?"

"Who knows?" Ling replied somewhat mischievously. "He got two or three of my ribs just a while ago…"

"I'm about the same." Ed responded. "Honestly… this is tough."

Taking a second to somewhat fake a sigh, the two paused. It was then that they looked at each other from the corner of their eyes, and the plan was set wordlessly. Within that same moment of a glance, "GO!" came from both of them and they ran in opposite directions.

"Escape into the darkness and reorganise ourselves!" Ed heard as a giant tentacle-like arm was slapped viciously against his back. He gasped fruitlessly for air, the wind being completely knocked out of him. There was nothing else he could do but fall to his knees in utter pain, and attempt uselessly to breathe.

"I wont let you escape…" Envy said as Ling sliced the iron sword through one of his hands. Suddenly several hands were reaching out to Ling, and in that fatal instant of surprise he was thrown back forcefully into the liquid. A large, sickening smack was heard when he hit the solution.

Still panting, Edward somehow found the strength to stand at the sight of his (now-admitted-to) friend being slammed violently into the substance that lined the 'bottom' of Gluttony's stomach. "LING!" He tried to shout, the word coming out difficultly with his shortness of breath. "You… bastard…" he started, standing and heading towards Envy. With his regained voice and breath came a yell as he charged, whipping out the blade he had transmuted earlier from his automail. He was about to jab it into Envy's supposed flesh, until he saw directly in front of him exactly what that flesh was composed of.

Ed stopped suddenly as he looked into the face of a gaunt man with a missing eye. "Kill…" the man said, staring directly into Edward's irises.

Edward froze in a twisted mixture of shock and horror. His body wouldn't move; his feet stood rooted to whatever was underneath him. He was too terrified to shake, to tremble, to gasp, to breathe - all he could do was watch in utter fear as the man continued to speak. "Help… please… kill…" He sputtered.

Then many voices rang out, all of them hollow but still reverberating in Ed's ears. They were all… calling for help… What… what _was_ this? Who were these lost souls? Why were they part of Envy's body?

"I want to die…" said a meek voice. "Come over here…" another, but more threatening sounding voice chimed lowly. Ed found the strength to move, but could only move backwards away from the repulsiveness in front of him. He stumbled as to his ultimate dread; the jaw of the man who had first spoken to him began to expand. But this time, the man wasn't saying anything…

To Ed's shock, another head emerged from the head of the man in front of him. He gasped, paralysed in disgust, as an evil sounding cackle came from the newly emerged head. He breathed quickly and shallowly, unable to do anything else but that and to stare in horror at the scene in front of him. Whatever this was… it must be worst than Hell, if such a place existed. This was what nightmares were made of.

Ed didn't have time to ponder much more as suddenly a hard shaft of metal was jabbed into the head from which the maniacal laugh came, and it was split apart by the sword. Ling now stood on top of it; thrusting the sword with all of his might into the skull of the being that had Ed unmoving in his terror. He wasn't there for long though, as Envy threw him off with a vigorous blow. Ling was once again smacked into the bloody liquid as Edward fell to his knees in disbelief, frightening images and sounds running rapidly through his mind.

"Don't just stare at it you idiot!" Ling shouted, standing up and trying to make Ed do the same. "What are you hesitating for?" he screamed as Ed still lay there on his knees, wide-eyed and on the verge of shaking. "There are people inside…" Edward finally managed to get out, although it was relatively quietly so, as he was still in shock. "They're pleading for help!"

"You're wrong; it's a monster!" Ling responded. "Tune them out!" he screamed as a chorus of ugly voices arose from the souls on Envy's body. Edward still had the slight inability to move from their appalling sound, but Ling was trying to change that. "_THAT THING IS A MONSTER!"_ Ling shouted again to him, trying desperately to awake Ed from his semi-comatose state. The voices kept calling out to him, and no matter how hard Ed tried to cover his ears and shut them out, they penetrated his mind with their horrible noise.

"Father…" one whispered.

"Brother…" another said.

"Help me…"

"SHUT UP!" Edward said over and over again, to no avail. _Why wouldn't they stop?_

"Please…"

"Someone…"

"Mother…"

_Mother._

That was when Edward remembered the first time he had really inhaled the smell of iron – before the failed transmutation. Al had asked him, he had asked him if it would be okay… he had asked what would be equivalent to a soul… and Ed had said that a few drops of their blood would be fine.

After all… iron was the basis of blood, blood was the basis of sustainable life in humans… and so, he had pricked his and Al's fingers and let the crimson liquid drop to the centre of the transmutation circle. Before he had fully pulled his hand back to wipe it off and stop the bleeding, a whiff of that iron scent had reached his nose, and for the first time, he had known what blood and iron smelled of.

Looking back now, it seemed ridiculous, insane even. _As if iron could remake a human life. _All the iron in all the blood in Gluttony's stomach couldn't be used to give these monsters, or souls, (or whatever they were), real bodies and minds and lives. It was… _ironic_ that at the same time, Edward was surrounded by life and death – the life-sustaining substance he was knee deep in, and the dead spirits on Envy's body that could never use said substance. Perhaps that was what made the situation so terrifying, instead of the voices… or so Edward thought, until he heard:

"Let's play."

_Let's play. Let's play._ Nina… and Alexander… suddenly, after hearing those words, Edward could only see their mutilated chimera body in front of him. There were few things in the world that were ugly enough to be called a personification of sin… but their body had been one of them. Ed couldn't have taken them apart and put them back together in their original form if he had tried. It wasn't even a question of materials; all the ingredients in the world that could make up a human or a dog body, including iron and blood, would not have helped him in the least. Giving them their lives back was simply impossible.

_Nina_.

No. Even blood… even iron couldn't remake the beauty of a human life.

That was Edward's last coherent thought before his irises dimmed, before a tear fell from his eyes, before he ceased to breathe properly… and before he let Envy start to consume him.

* * *

**_Hmm… not my best, by far. I think this needs editing, but I'll do that later if I get any reviews telling me what is good/bad about this. Oh! I have to mention, though, that I got a really great review from someone called BoodHeron while this was on my other penname. So, thank you, if you're somehow reading this! _**


	3. ZN: Alphonse: Illness

_It is the simplest of elements that influence them all._

* * *

**Metal:** Zinc  
**Genre: **Who knows anymore, really.  
**Word Count: **1595  
**Setting:** _Rush Valley, sometime after chapter 56 which is currently the latest one out because March can't freaking come soon enough and BRING ME THE NEXT CHAPTER ARAKAWA-SENSEI!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!! -.-() ::cries:: _

_Sorry 'bout that. Anyway. THIS CHAPTER HAS SOME EDxWIN!! YAYYY!!! But it's about Al, because Al is … __my future husband__ … I mean… __awesome__… Heh…_

Oh wow, I can't believe I started this THAT long ago. That author's note is from years ago. Haha oh well. Anyway, on with the story!

_**

* * *

**_

**Illness  
**_Zinc_

* * *

Edward was sick, though he wouldn't admit to it. At first, Alphonse had thought that Edward's stubbornness made _him_ angry…

…Until Winry had found out.

Well, it couldn't be helped, he guessed. They had come, once again, to Rush Valley so that Edward could get his automail fixed. After duelling with Envy inside Gluttony's stomach, it had taken a pretty hard beating. And Edward and Alphonse had _both_ gotten scraped up pretty badly while fighting Ling-turned-Greed, the sort-of-Hohenheim, and the homunculi. Then there was Scar, that strange cat-like animal, and the little Xing girl to think of… But Al didn't want to do that right now.

In all actuality, he didn't want to think about the fact that Edward was ill either… but the thoughts penetrated his mind anyway, as the shouting (or in Ed's case, wheezing) match between his brother and Winry forced itself to his ears - or rather, whatever enabled him to hear. There wasn't really anything he could do to escape paying witness to what appeared to be Ed and Winry's goals to best each other verbally. "I'M NOT SICK!" Edward would attempt to shout, which would only result in a new coughing or hacking fit emerging from his weak body. This would be followed by "YES, YOU ARE! NOW GET TO BED!" from the alternate blond who was participating in Al's brother/best friend's deranged yelling game. "_What makes you think I'm sick?_" Edward would retort to Winry, and then he would proceed to sneeze, or cough, or sniff, or make himself sit down as a result of dizziness, or make some other feeble attempt to rid himself of the mucus that clouded his sinuses. "THAT!" Winry would say, "NOW GET TO BED!" She would repeat again. "_BUT I'M NOT SICK!_" Edward would try to bellow back pitifully, and the whole argument would start itself up again.

And so, after many rounds of this, Al had seen Winry shove Ed into a bed with a red coverlet and white sheets. Edward had resisted, but Al couldn't help but wonder if he was resisting because he really didn't want to admit that he was sick, or because not admitting that he was sick put him in constant close proximity to Winry, who would push him back into bed once more. Every time she did, they would both go as red as the bedspread - although if asked the two probably would have said that either the redness wasn't present, or that it made its way on their visages simply from lack of air while shouting. Alphonse wondered if Winry would become sick too, either from yelling so much or from catching Ed's apparent cold. He worried for his friend just as he worried for his brother… but in a way, after choosing to semi-ally with Scar in their most recent fight, he wondered guiltily how much _he_ really cared, and how far he was allowed to go in his worry.

His strange mixture of guilt and worry caused him to watch the debacle between Ed and Winry in relative silence, until he had finally heard enough and calmly said: "Brother, you _are_ sick. Just go to bed and get better, and then you won't be sick any longer. You should listen to Winry."

"_Thank_ you, Al." Winry had replied, sticking her nose up in the air. Ed had looked at her lividly before realising that his younger brother was right, as usual. Then he had lain against the fluffy pillows with a sigh, finally giving up the fight… at least for the time being. The fight between Edward and Winry never seemed to end, but as it was currently their only way of flirting, Al didn't mind so much. He wondered how long they would take before the fighting turned into… something else. (Then again, maybe he didn't want to wonder about that. Thinking about his brother and his friend that way was a little weird.)

Winry was good for him and his brother, amidst all the violence. Strangely enough, some sort of maternal instinct seemed to come out of her when Edward became sick. She brought him good food, copious amounts of orange juice, and her usual "I don't take no for an answer," attitude. "You better drink it all, Ed." She said, wrench in hand. Ed pouted to Al. "Um… At least it's not milk?" he added, shrugging. Winry waved the wrench closer to his face.

Suddenly, the orange juice began to disappear.

Al sighed in an amused fashion and left his brother to consume the plethora of tasty things Winry had brought. There was a plus factor to being made of metal, in the sense that he didn't have to worry about basic human needs like eating or taking showers. (Although in the case of showers, rain was a problem.) Still. Al would give almost anything to have a body – not that he had anything left to give, in a physical sense.

Stepping outside, he pretended to smell the fresh air. There were so many things he missed. He decided that, even given a poor condition comparable or worse than his brother's, he would rather have a body and be sick than not have one. Especially if Winry was going to do this baking thing every time someone caught a cold.

Mother used to do that, sans the threatening tools. "Drink your fluids!" she'd always say with a smile. Al remembered the times she had taken care of him while he was sick before; he allowed himself to indulge in the memory of her for a moment.

_"Alfred! Time for lunch!" She said, walking into his room with a tray laden with soup and three different drinks._

"_Bu-um, dat's dot by dame…" Al attempted to say through a very stuffy nose._

"_Oh, I'm sorry Albert. I'll remember next time." She winked and put the tray down in front of him, sitting at the chair that had been by his bedside for as long as he could remember. She took out a funky looking straw from her apron and bent it for the poor little boy currently throwing what seemed like his thousandth tissue into the wastebasket._

_He missed._

"_Awww…" Al said and slammed himself back against the pillow. "That's okay, I'll get it in a minute. Now which drink should I put this into?" she asked him. "I dunno, I don't want anyding." His mother narrowed her eyes._

"_How are you supposed to get better if you don't eat your cold away, dear? Now come on, choose a drink."_

"_Okay, but only if you stop callig me funny dames."_

"_Alright, Alan." She smiled wider._

"_Hargh…" Al was frustrated. Lunch in bed would have seemed better if he didn't feel so… awful. _

"_How about… the red one?" She slipped the straw in._

"_Okay…" Al said, giving up. He sipped some. It seemed like it might have tasted better before mucus had clouded his taste buds. He sighed._

_His mother chuckled a bit. "Edward and Winry are making something for you to help you get well, but I think they won't be finished until well after you eat your lunch and sleep a little more. I have something else for you too."_

_Al looked at her quizzically over his glass as it was slowly depreciated of it's contents. He swallowed. "Whut?" he asked._

"_Magic." His mother replied. She then pulled out a little white pill from her apron pocket. (This seemed to be the place for cool things, so maybe it was worth a try?)_

"_Whut's dat?" Al asked._

"_Zinc!" she said emphatically. "Don't play around now, I need you to take this. Here." _

_She handed it to him and he gulped it down with the drink. It didn't _taste_ like magic. _

"_Zinc is very good for you when you're sick. Your father always used to tell me how important it is." She cleared her throat and lowered her voice to start an uncanny – 'uncanny' meaning 'funny sounding' – impression. "Zinc is essential for all life, don't you know. "When you burn it, the leftovers look like snow. We call it 'philosopher's wool.' It's very important, without it we wouldn't be able to produce several types of alloys, etc etc." She finished dramatically. _

"_I don't like it."_

_She smiled wryly in return. "You might not like it, but you like being sick a whole lot less, don't you?" she asked. She was right._

"_Yeah, I _guess _you're right…" She_ _kissed his forehead. _

_"I love you, Alphonse. I'll come back for the tray in a few minutes and we can read a story too, okay?"_

_She got up to throw his tissue away, and as if on cue, a loud crashing sound was heard from downstairs. Yelling followed._

"_They're only supposed to be finger-painting…" Al's mother remarked, confused at the kafuffle. She sighed. "Well, I'll be back in a little bit, okay? Eat up, now!" _

"_Okayyy…" Al said, grabbing a spoon._

She left the room, and his memory, with a smile. As always.

Thinking back, Al realised that that was the one thing Winry had forgotten. Zinc was indeed a very important metal. He walked out in the direction of the nearest convenience store, (or at least, the closest one he knew of), hoping they'd have those little white pills in stock. Winry could take care of Edward, but Al had to do something too, even if it was only to help a cold disappear. He was Al's brother, after all. Al would bring him some zinc.

…Maybe not the crazy straws, though.

* * *

End

* * *

Wahoo! Finally an update! Haha. It only took me... years. Nyeh. Hope you like!


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